Chrysler Corp.

CHRYSLER CORPORATION 407 Chrysler Corporation and International Union, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), Petitioner Dodge Brothers Division and International Union, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), Petitioner Chrysler Corporation and International Union, United Auto- mobile, Aircraft & Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW-CIO), Petitioner. Cases Nos. 7-R-1666, 7-R- 1667, and 7-R-1668. October 24, 1960 SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL DECISION AND ORDER On May 12,1944, after an election conducted pursuant to a Decision and Direction of Elections,' the Board issued a certification of repre- sentatives in which it certified the Petitioner, hereinafter called the UAW, as the collective-bargaining representative for each of the three units set forth in the Decision. On June 22,1959, the UAW filed a motion to amend certification in Case No. 7-R-1667,2 requesting that the unit description be amended. The unit for which the UAW was certified as the collective-bargaining representative is : All tool, die and fixture engineers, designers, follow-up men, detailers, and engineering record clerks who are employed in the master mechanics division of the Dodge Main plant, excluding supervisory employees with authority to hire, promote, discharge, discipline, or otherwise effect changes in the status of employees, or effectively recommend such action, and all other employees. The UAW now seeks to have the Board delete reference to the master mechanics division so as to include in the unit, as an accretion thereto, employees now working in the manufacturing engineering office of the car and truck assembly division, which is located at the Dodge main plant 3 The UAW further requested that, in the event the Employer opposed this motion, and the Board deemed additional information necessary, the record be reopened and a hearing be held "for the pur- pose of adducing evidence with respect to the continuity and simi- larity of the duties and functions of the employees covered by the 155 -NLRB 1039. 2 On July 24, 1944, after a hearing upon motion of the UAW, a Supplemental Decision and Amended Certification of Representatives was issued by the Board clarifying the unit in Case No 7-R-1668. Neither that unit nor the unit in Case No. 7-R-1666 Is involved in the UAW's present motion. 8 The UAW requested alternative forms of amendment to accomplish this objective. In view of our decision herein, we need not set them forth or consider them in detail. 129 NLRB No. 51. 408 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD original certification and those presently working at the same jobs in the Dodge main plant, and the effect of the recent corporate adminis- trative reorganization upon the original certification." On July 15, 1959, the Employer filed a memorandum in opposition to motion to amend certification, to which the UAW replied on July 27,1959. On August 3, 1959, the Board remanded the matter to the Regional Director for the Seventh Region for the purpose of a hearing to re- ceive evidence on the issues raised by the UAWV's motion and the Em- ployer's opposition thereto. A hearing was held on various dates be- tween September 15 and November 8, 1959, before Marvin J. Schmitt, hearing officer. The hearing officer's rulings made at the hearing are free from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, including the briefs filed by the parties subsequent to the hearing, the Board finds : From the time of the 1944 certification until 1957 and 1958, the Dodge main plant, which consists of a number of buildings on a large tract of land, was part of the Dodge Brothers Division and performed all the functions involved in producing Dodge cars. It consisted of a foundry, an engine assembly operation, a stamping operation, and a car assembly operation. The employees in the unit as certified pro- vided engineering processing services for all these operations. Those services consisted of planning the sequence of the operations ; deter- mining the quantity, quality, and design of tools, fixtures, and gages required and procuring them;' resolving tooling difficulties arising after production began; and maintaining records. Some of the ma- terials prepared by these employees were sent to other plants of the Employer which were engaged in operations relating to the production of Dodge cars. Each of the other assembly plants of the Employer' has had its own master mechanics department to perform these func- tions on a separate plant basis, many, if not all, of which were and are also represented by the UA`V as part of a multiplant technical unit.' In 1957 and 1958, the Employer reorganized its operations and centralized various functions. The operations of the Dodge main plant were divided among four corporate divisions and placed under separate supervision. The foundry became part of the forge and foundry division and is now known as the Chrysler Detroit foundry; the stamping operation became part of the stamping division and is ' Tools are mostly fixtures ; fixtures are special tools designed to hold one or more parts while they are being assembled. 6 E g, Chrysler Jefferson plant, Imperial assembly plant, Highland, Park plant 6 Over a period of many years the UAW has been certified in various other units of technical employees at the Employer's several plants Throughout the years, and up to the present time, the Employer and the UAW have bargained for a multiplant technical unit, and the Board has so found in Chrysler Corporation, 7-RC-2922, issued Novem- ber 30, 1955 (not published in NLRB volumes). CHRYSLER CORPORATION 409 now known as the Conant stamping plant; the engine operations be- came part of the engine division and was known as the Joseph Cam- pan engine plant, but has since been transferred to another location; and the Dodge assembly operation became part of the car and truck assembly group and is now known as the Dodge assembly plant? The employees in the master mechanics division e were among each of these "new" plants on the basis of the phase of the operations they had been working on previously. Although the employees now working in the Conant stamping plant and in the Chrysler Detroit foundry are sepa- rately supervised, they continue to be treated as part of a single group with those remaining in the Dodge assembly plant (and one clerk as- signed to the Joseph Campau engine plant but still physically located at the Dodge main plant) for purposes of seniority, layoff, etc.' In the spring of 1958, as part of the centralization, some of the func- tions of the M.M. division, as well as of the equivalent departments at all other car and truck assembly plants, were absorbed by the manufac- turing engineering office of the car and truck assembly group, herein- after referred to as the MEO. This is a separate corporate office whose director is on the same organizational level as the two general plants managers who supervise five assembly plants each, both categories re- porting directly to the group executive. The M.M. is the fourth level below the group executive (the general plants manager, plant mana- ger, and production manager intervening) whereas the director of the MEO is immediately below that official. There were approximately 340 employees in the MEO at the time of the instant hearing. It is these employees whom the UAW seeks to include as an accretion to its certified unit. The Employer con- tends, however, that the MEO is a new operation performing different functions and having a separate history of development, that the MEO employees are not an accretion to the certified unit, and that a self- determination election would be required. The MEO is an outgrowth of a separate office established in 1955 to perform for the Los Angeles assembly plant the functions then being performed by the M.M. division for the Dodge main plant. That office, then known as the west coast operations, consisted of three people and was located in the John R Street office building in 7 The geographical location is referred to by the parties as Dodge main , and that desig- nation is similarly used herein. I In January 1959 the name of the master mechanics division was changed to tool and process engineering department and the title of the master mechanic was changed to superintendent of tool and process engineering . However, the former designations are still used informally by the parties and for purposes of brevity the abbreviations 11I M. division and M.M. are used thereinafter to refer to the department and its supervisor, respectively, at the Dodge assembly plant. 9 There were approximately '80 employees in the unit eligible to vote in the 1944 elec- tion and about 94 in the group at the time of the instant hearing. 410 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD Detroit. In 1957 this west coast operations became part of the regional car assembly group and its operations expanded to include the other plants outside the Detroit area. Its designation was changed to manu- facturing engineering department of the regional car assembly group, and its location was moved to the Russell Street office building in Detroit.10 In the spring of 1958, this office became the MEO of the then newly established car and truck assembly group and was assigned the function of preplanning the sequence of assembly and tooling of all cars and trucks for all the assembly plants. By December 1958 the MEO had 200 to 250 employees and required more space. The Employer had room available at the Dodge main plant, and in order to save rental costs the MEO was moved to the third floor of building No. 1 at that plant. The M.M. division is located on the fourth floor of the same building. The general functions of the M.M. division prior to the reorganiza- tion are described above. In fact, these functions continued to be performed by the M.M. division through production of the 1959 model. Beginning with the 1960 model (for which planning began some time prior to production), the MEO has supplied the Dodge assembly plant 11 with the operation sheets sequencing the assembly and has procured the required tools and fixtures, except that the M.M. division continues to handle "expense" (i.e., perishable) tools and to process any "cut and sew" 12 (i.e., upholstery) and special orders (e.g., police cars). The present duties of the M.M. division are principally to review the operation sheets received from the MEO, revise the sequenc- ing to suit the Dodge assembly plant, review the tooling directed by MEO to determine whether it is on hand in the plant, and request the MEO to purchase whatever tools are needed. There is consultation between the M.M. division and MEO employees on plant problems that arise, and MEO employees also travel to the various plants throughout the country as required. In addition, regularly scheduled meetings are held of all master mechanics with the MEO director at which common assembly problems are discussed and decided by majority vote. However, the MEO functions as a separate operation. It is in a completely separate area, anyone not part of its staff is required to sign in and out, and only authorized persons are admitted. There is no interchange of employees between, and no line of promotion from, the M.M. division to the MEO. Hiring is done by different 1° Neither of these office buildings is owned by the Employer. 11 When it began servicing the other assembly plants which had been added to its operations does not appear in the record. 12 Only about 25 percent of the former amount of "cut and sew " Is now processed by the MM. division , the larger portion being contracted out to other firms. CHRYSLER CORPORATION 411 offices, MEO through the group personnel department and M.M. divi- sion through the plant personnel department. Some of the MEO supervisors and employees were transferred from the master mechanics divisions at the various plants, but since August 1, 1957, there have been only 38 employee transfers, 10 from the M.M. division at Dodge main and 28 from other plants. While these transfers were appar- ently made at the same salary, the rate ranges in MEO are slightly higher than those of the M.M. division. Moreover, the MEO employee benefits are substantially different from those in the M.M. division.13 Thus, there is great variance in their disability absence rights, layoff procedures, pension programs, and life and health insurance benefits. In addition, all MEO em- ployees may participate in the Employer's thrift-stock ownership program but the M.M. division employees may not. On the basis of the foregoing facts, particularly their different lines of development, places in the corporate setup, and benefits and priv- ileges; the separate supervision and hiring; the absence of employee interchange or line of progression; the location of the MEO on a separate, restricted floor; and the bargaining history on a multiplant basis, we find that the manufacturing engineering office of the car and truck assembly group is not an accretion to the tool and process engi- neering department at the Dodge assembly plant.'' Contrary to the contention of the UAW, the facts that they are located in the same building, that the employees have approximately the same degree of training, and that the MEO now performs some of the functions pre- viously performed in the M.M. division, albeit on a broader scale, do not require a different conclusion. It seems clear that the physical location of the MEO at the Dodge main plant is merely a matter of convenience to the Employer. And while the creation of the MEO has resulted in a change in the work of the M.M. division at the Dodge assembly plant, this seems to be true also of the equivalent divisions at the other assembly plants in the Detroit area. Accordingly, we shall deny the UAW's motion to amend certification. [The Board denied the motion.] MEMBER KIMBALL took no part in the consideration of the above Second Supplemental Decision and Order. 13 This difference in benefits results from the fact that the Employer regards the MEG employees, other than clerks, illustrators, followup men, and detailers , as management employees who are eligible to participate in programs limited to such employees. 14 Cf. Kennecott Copper Corporation, Nevada Mmes Division, 122 NLRB 198; Lev- ingston Shipbuilding Company, 120 NLRB 205; Texlite, Inc, Case No. 16-RC-2704 (unpublished).